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Lenovo HW02 Smart Band Review!

Hey guys this is Richard. Smartwatches may look great for notifications and ease of access, but I have not been using one daily. I own a Moto 360 but the need for daily charging puts me off and now it sits on my desk as a table clock. Personally I still prefer to pull out my phone to read messages when I get alerts. The screen is just too small for me to read. Further more it costs as much as a mobile phone.

Lenovo HW02 contents

I have read about Smart Bands and it’s a really stripped down version of a smartwatch. They are pretty popular but I didn’t really have a chance to use it. Thankfully, Banggood have reached out to me and provided the Lenovo HW02 Smart Band for me to review. Remember to check them out below.

Mine came in orange and black which has a nice color contrast and it’s also available in Blue and Black. It’s made of some sort of TPU material which is soft to the touch. There isn’t any sharp edge and it’s pretty comfortable to wear on the wrist.

There is a metal buckle bearing the Lenovo logo with 2 prongs. Those are for the holes in the other side of the band to hold it tightly around the wrist. It’s pretty snug and it doesn’t fall off at all. Clamping the buckle one handed will take some practice. The furthest holes have a diameter of around 6.5cm and the closest one have a diameter of around 4.5cm.

Lenovo HW02 metal buckle

On the front is a 0.42 inch 40×72 OLED display. The display cannot be pressed, instead there is a tiny touch button right below it. It’s pretty sensitive and works with a light tap. There isn’t any option for brightness and it can get pretty dim outdoors.

The heart rate sensor is on the back together with the pogo pins. The cable that comes with it is magnetic and it guides it to the pins. Its IP67 certified but Lenovo says it is not recommended to wear during showering or swimming. Accidental splashes when washing hands is fine in my personal experience. Just make sure it’s dry when charging.

Lenovo HW02 heartrate monitor

Tapping on the touch button cycles through various options like, datetime, number of steps taken, number of calories burnt, heart rate monitor, battery level and find my phone. To measure heart rate, wait for a few seconds for the results to appear. Pair it to the Lenovo Smart Bracelet app to unlock features like alerts and sleep tracking.

The settings page shows the current battery level, goal reminder, find my phone that is triggered from the band and smart reminder that gives simple alerts on the band. Raising the hand will turn on the display to show the time but it takes some tries to get the time to show. A time range can be set on when this feature will be turned on. It’s useful so the time will not show when the band is worn to sleep to track sleep patterns. This will definitely save some battery life.

Lenovo HW02 touch button

On days when you feel lazy, the sedentary reminder will alert you to get up and do some work out when there is no activity. Vibration strength can also be set to your liking. There are other settings like alarm and units type.

Lenovo HW02 app

There are 3 main screens in the app, Activity, Sleep and Heart Rate. Activity displays information about the number of steps taken, distance travelled and calories burnt. The bottom half shows the number of activities done for the day and tap on it to show more information. The top left icon shows the history that can be viewed monthly, weekly or daily. The steps counting for the most part are pretty accurate. The running mode tracks the distance, heart rate, time taken, speed and calories burnt for each run. The map mode also tracks the route taken.

The Sleep screen tracks deep sleep, light sleep, wake up and heart rate throughout the night. I’m not too sure whether it’s accurate since the time I sleep is different from the time that is recorded. It’s still a pretty nice feature to have. The bell icon is the anti sleep alarm. It will trigger an alarm every 5 mins for a set time to keep you awake.

Lenovo HW02

The heart rate monitor shows the daily measurements throughout the day every 15 mins if auto measure is turned on. If you prefer, you can also manually run the test either through the app or on the band itself. You can also view the daily heart rate and show information like fat burning, cardio and peak exercise. The data is usually auto synced but to do it manually, pull down the lower half display on any screen.

Lenovo HW02 app

Battery life is pretty good since the display doesn’t take up lots of battery. It dropped about 7% – 10% battery in a full day of use. Depending on usage, the Lenovo HW02 Smartband can easily last 5 – 7 days before needing a charge.

Lenovo HW02 alerts

Although the Lenovo Smart Band doesn’t have the bells and whistles of a smartwatch, I enjoyed using it on a daily basis. It’s lightweight, provides simple alerts and quite accurately tracks steps and heartrate. Best part for me is not charging the band every day. But I feel that the design could be more attractive, the display bigger and much brighter. If you are one of those who wants a fitness tracker but don’t wish to charge it everyday, its worth to get it. Considering the price is a fraction of a smartwatch.